BE WELL COPD Yarning Scripts and Illustrations: Culturally safe education resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers

The BE WELL Yarning Scripts and Illustrations is a comprehensive education resource developed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners in yarning about COPD with community members living with the condition. Featuring nine topics with accompanying illustrations and flexible scripts, it forms the education component of a culturally safe pulmonary rehabilitation program. 

Why use the BE WELL Yarning Scripts and Illustrations? 

Yarning is a culturally grounded way of sharing knowledge, building trust, and supporting understanding. This resource provides health workers with the structure and content to lead meaningful conversations about COPD across nine topics, from how the lungs work through to managing breathlessness, anxiety, and healthy eating. Language in each script can be adapted to suit local communities. 

Key features of the BE WELL Yarning Scripts and Illustrations 

• Nine yarning topics with illustrations covering how the lungs work, COPD’s effects, medications and inhalers, COPD Action Plans, exercise and pulmonary rehabilitation, managing breathlessness, energy conservation, anxiety and stress, and healthy eating. 
• Plain language scripts designed to guide yarning conversations, with notes for health professionals embedded throughout. 
• Illustrations developed in partnership with ACCHS and reviewed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals. 
• Flexibility to adapt language and examples to suit local community contexts and priorities. 
• Cross-references to complementary Lung Foundation Australia resources including inhaler technique videos and the COPD Action Plan.

Practical applications for health workers 

Designed for use in ACCHS settings, pulmonary rehabilitation programs, and community health education sessions. Resources can be used one topic at a time or across a structured program, alongside the BE WELL Resource Toolkit and video. 

The Learning from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living with COPD guide is a free resource developed as part of the BE WELL project. Education resources were developed with funding from the NHMRC Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases for a project tilted: Implementing evidence into practice to improve chronic lung disease management in Indigenous Australians: the Breathe Easy, Walk Easy – Lungs for Life (BE WELL) project. 

The development of the resources was led by Professor Jennifer Alison and Dr David Meharg, with support from Lung Foundation Australia.  

The scripts were reviewed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals.  

The Investigation team for the NHMRC GACD grant was: Prof Jennifer Alison, Prof Christine Jenkins, Prof Stephen Jan, Prof Graeme Maguire, Prof Tim Shaw, Prof Sarah Dennis, A/Prof Zoe McKeough, Dr Vanessa Lee.